After 1000 BC some form of Indo-European language was
spoken by most European cultures. From the middle of the
1st millennium BC, Germanic tribes lived in southern
Scandinavia and northern Germany. Their expansions and
migrations from the 2d century BC onward are recorded in
history. Scandinavian and Germanic mythology have a
common origin and structure; they will, therefore, be
discussed in their unity.

With the exception of the observations made by the Romans
Julius Caesar and Tacitus, all of the sources on Germanic
mythology are late and Christian. The main body of
traditions is contained in the Prose Edda of SNORRI
STURLUSON (c.1179-1241), an Icelandic historian who is
considered the most accurate editor, redactor, and
interpreter of the religious and mythological sources of
the old Norse religion.

The myth of creation is given in detail only by Snorri,
who edited several sources in presenting a somewhat
coherent form. In the beginning was a great void
(Ginnungagup). Before the Earth was formed, the world of
death existed; in this world (NIFLHEIM) was a great well,
from which flowed 11 rivers. South of Niflheim existed an
extremely hot world (Muspell) guarded by a giant called
Sutr ("the Black"). The rivers of Niflheim froze, and
these frozen rivers occupied Ginnungagup. Sparks from
Muspell, however, fell on the rivers and melted them.
Droppings from this melting took shape as YMIR, the giant,
and from Ymir's sweat other giants, male and female, were
formed.

Another version relates that the melting drops took the
form of the primordial cow, Audumbla, who fed Ymir with
her milk. The cow also licked the salty blocks of ice,
shaping them into the form of the first man, who is called
Buri. Buri has a son, Bor, who marries Bestla, daughter
of a giant, Bolthorr; the children from this union are
the gods ODIN, Vili, and Ve. Odin and his brothers kill
Ymir and from his body fashion the Earth.

The gods endow two tree trunks with the qualities of wit,
breath, hearing, vision, and so on. These tree trunks are
the archetypes of the human race; the man is Askr (an ash
tree) and the woman, Embla (a creeper). They next build
ASGARD, the abode of the gods. Snorri describes in other
versions how a great tree, Yggdrasil, the tree of fate,
arises in the center of the world. Beneath the tree is
the well of fate, which is described as feminine in form;
the course of human life is decided here. In some
versions, the council of the gods is convened around the
tree. The tree is supported by three roots; one of these
roots stretches to the underworld (HEL), another to the
world of the frost-giants, and the last one to the world
of human beings. The welfare of the entire world is
dependent on the primordial tree, Yggdrasil.

The Norse deities are divided into two major groups, the
Aesir and the Vanir. The most important of the Aesir are
Odin, THOR, and sometimes Tyr. Their counterparts among
the Vanir are Njord, FREY, and FREYA. The Vanir symbolize
riches, fertility, and fecundity. They are associated
with the earth and the sea as these symbolize the sources
of fecundity. The Aesir symbolize other values: Odin is
a magician, chief among the gods, and a patron of heroes;
Thor, who is god of the hammer, is an atmospheric deity of
thunder who presides over work. In many of the Norse
mythological cycles these two kinds of deities live in
peace and engage in cooperative enterprises. Several
important versions, however, report that in the distant
past a fierce war was fought between the Aesir and the
Vanir.

Some scholars have interpreted this war between the Aesir
and the Vanir as the reflection of the historical
encounter of the Germanic peoples with indigenous
cultures. Georges Dumezil and Jan de Vries, however, see
the warfare and division among the deities as part of the
unitary structure of Indo-European mythology. The
familiar triad is formed by Odin and Thor, who divide the
functions of the magical lawgiver; Tyr, the warrior god;
and the Vanir, the fertile producers, who are defeated and
subsumed into hierarchy.

In the Norse cycles the conflict between the gods begins
when Odin and Thor, the greatest of the gods, refuse the
full status of godhood to the Vanir. The latter entreat
the Aesir by sending to them a woman, Gullveig
(gold-drink, gold drunkenness), who corrupts them. War
then breaks out. After both sides are exhausted, each
side exchanges members of its group with the other; the
Vanir send Njord and his son Frey, the Aesir, MIMIR and
Hoenir. The truce is celebrated by a meeting at which all
the gods spit into a bowl, creating a giant called Kvasir,
who is the sign of peace and harmony among the deities.
Kvasir is later sacrificed and from his blood a more
potent drink for the gods is made. Kvasir thus becomes
the drink that inebriates deities and gives inspiration to
the poets.

An important mythological episode involves the deities
BALDER and LOKI. Balder, one of the sons of Odin, appears
as the essence of intelligence, piety, and wisdom. He
holds court in a hall in heaven called Glitnir. Both gods
and men come to him to settle legal disputes, and his
judgments are reconciling and fair. Loki is a giant who
is an Aesir by adoption. He and Odin have made a vow of
friendship.

Balder has a very disturbing dream in which his life is
threatened. Upon reporting this dream to the Aesir, his
mother, FRIGG, exacts an oath from fire and water, all
metals, bird and beast, and earth and stones that they
will not harm Balder. After this the Aesir begin to amuse
themselves by placing Balder in the midst of them and
throwing darts and stones at him. Because of the oath
Balder remains unharmed. When Loki sees this spectacle, he
disguises himself as a woman and inquires of Frigg why
Balder suffers no harm. Frigg tells him of the oath and
also tells him of the one form of nature from which she
did not exact the oath, the mistletoe. Loki immediately
brings the mistletoe to the assembly of the Aesir and
offers it to the blind god Hoder, brother of Balder,
volunteering to direct his aim so that he can participate
in the game. When the mistletoe strikes Balder, he falls
dead. The Aesir want to take vengeance on the perpetrator
of the deed, but because of the sanctity of the court they
cannot.

Because Balder is not a warrior and does not die in
battle, he does not go to VALHALLA, the hall of slain
heroes, but into the domain of Hel, keeper of the dead.
When Odin requests his release, Hel responds that if
everything in the world both dead and alive weeps for
Balder, then he can return to the Aesir; otherwise he will
remain with Hel. The Aesir send messengers throughout the
world requiring all nature, humanity, gods, and beasts to
weep for Balder. All respond except a giantess, Thokk
(Loki in disguise), whose refusal to weep forces Balder to
remain in Hel's domain.

The Aesir finally succeed in capturing Loki and chaining
him to prevent him from carrying out his evil tricks. The
prediction is, however, that he will one day break these
chains. This will be the sign for the loosing of all
evil, monsters and giants, to attack the gods in the great
battle of RAGNAROK, the twilight of the gods. Odin will
be devoured by the wolf FENRIR, who will then be killed by
Vidar, a son of Odin. Terrible fights will rage among the
gods and the forces of evil until finally the primeval god
HEIMDALL and Loki come face to face and kill each other.
The Earth will then be destroyed by fire, and the entire
universe will sink back into the sea. This final
destruction will be followed by a rebirth, the Earth
reemerging from the sea, verdant and teeming with
vegetation. The sons of the dead Aesir will return to
Asgard and reign, as did their fathers.